Yurakuen Japanese Restaurant at Diamond Hotel Philippines

The first time I dined at Yurakuen Japanese Restaurant of Diamond Hotel Philippines was during the time when we tried the Teppanyaki Eat-All-You-Can with fellow foodies.  The experience was legendary and from then on, I have been meaning to revisit Yurakuen and try their ala carte dishes. If I was floored with my teppanyaki experience, there isn't a snowball chance in the desert that I wouldn't like Yurakuen's other dishes.

When I finally got the chance to revisit Yurakuen, it steeled my resolve that they are one of the best Japanese restaurants in Manila, at least in my book, but I am confident a lot will agree. 

Located inside Diamond Hotel Philippines in Manila, dining at Yurakuen Japanese Restaurant feels like dining in a small paradise.  Their signature cherry blossom glass tree sits pontifically in the middle of the dining area that gives the restaurant an elegant feel to it.  The roof to floor glass walls serves as a thin line that separate the dining area to the beautiful garden surrounding the restaurant.  

Mochiko Potato Chip Chocolate Mochi

One of the reasons why I love going to weekend markets is the endless possibilities of discovering great food finds.  In the past years that I have been going to Mercato Centrale, one of the food finds that really love and patronize up to this day is Mochiko.  Despite being introduced to different Mochi stores sprouting all over Manila, truth be told, I still keep coming back to the tried and tested Mochiko.

There are a lot of things about Mochiko to be loved, but one that illuminate is their creativity in coming up with different flavors.  I've been crazy with their azuki, caramel, and black sesame variants and I was floored when they released their chocnut and cookie dough flavors.  And during the holiday season, I was introduced to their new flavor, Potato Chip Chocolate Mochi. 

Who would have thought, right?  Sheer genius.

This new flavor by Mochiko is a beautiful collaboration with Risa Chocolate which is also known in every food fairs and weekend markets in Manila.  Risa Chocolate provides the chocolate covered potato chips while FIC Ice cream provides the delectable ice cream.

California Pizza Kitchen at Bonifacio High Street

To mark its 10th store in the Philippines, California Pizza Kitchen (CPK Phlippines) celebrate it with newly revamped interiors and new additions to the menu.  Handled by Global Restaurants Concept Inc., California Pizza Kitchen opened its door to cater to its patrons located at The Fort, Bonifacio Global City.

Since it's first branch that opened in 1998 at Glorietta, California Pizza Kitchen still is among the pizza restaurant chains that dishes out great tasting pizza that Filipino love.  During the opening of it's 10th store, we were able to try some of the new additions to the menu and experience great ambiance at CPK.

Suggestive of California ambiance, CPK's interior boasts of laid back and comfortable feat where diners could enjoy their meals and relax.  I wasn't able to capture photos of their The Fort branch because the place was so jam packed during my visit so I'll just reserved that on my future posts when I get to visit them again sometime soon. Menawhile, here are the dishes we enjoyed during the launching.

Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant Philippines

One of the many reasons why I love Bistro Group is their awesomeness in bringing in impressive concepts in Philippines' restaurant scene. Late last year, Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant opened its first branch here in the country as a new addition to the Bistro Group's line of concepts such as Italianni's, T.G.I.Friday's, Bulgogi Brothers, Ma Maison, Village Tavern, and more.

Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant is an international concept that has over 700 branches worldwide.  The number itself will clearly speak how this concept is well perceived by people all over the world.  Watami has 2 branches now in the Philippines located at SM Mall of Asia and at the New Glorietta in Makati.

Japanese food lovers like me could only rejoice in the fact that Watami offers affordable and great tasting Japanese food in an ambiance that rivals high end restaurants in the country.  Weeks after opening its first branch in SM Mall of Asia, we were able to try some of their dishes that will surely earn the raves of foodies here in Manila.

Book For Foodies: Eat Out Now! 115 Manila Restaurants We Love

I have to say that for someone like me who has a thing for restaurant book guides, launching of such books late last year was quite exciting.  Northern Eats and Southern Eats by Anton Diaz of the famous blog Our Awesome Planet was released last year by Hinge Inquirer Publishing.  Also last year, Alicia Sy, lifestyle editor of Town & Country Philippines and food columnist of Spot.ph released 'Eat Out Now! 115 Manila Restaurants We Love' through Summit Media Publishing.

Some of our country's respected food enthusiasts tagged as panelists joined Sy in dishing out 115 restaurants in Manila featured in the book.  They are Cyrene dela Rosa (Interaksyon.com's Chowbuzz), Erwann Heussaff (The Fat Kid Inside), JJ Yulo (Pinoy Eats World), Sanjeeb Gopaldas (Table for Three, Please), Joel Binamira (Market Manila), and Noel Ermitano (Eyeonwine).

ChocNut Cheesecake of Indulgence by Irene

I admit ChocNut Cheesecake of Indulgence by Irene didn’t rock my world at first bite the way Queso de Bola Cheesecake did.

No, it didn’t turn my world inside out, nor made my knees weak.  No dramatic knee shaking and tight gripping onto my camera happened. Nothing like that transpired. 

Clearly it wasn’t love at first bite.

But let me ask you, have you ever tasted nostalgia?

Have you every experienced having slice of yesteryears play on your palate?  Have you ever experienced memories flirt with your taste buds?

Have you ever tasted something as beautiful as that?  I have.